By Punky Coletta

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Tag Archives: Camping

The secret of happiness is to have low expectations. Wait. That’s not how the saying goes, is it?

All I know is that my dream started with wanting to live in an RV. The RV that was perfect for me (small, live-in, hubby could get up and walk and stretch his back while I drove) turned out to be one of the most expensive on the market — like, the same price as our house that will take us 33 years to pay off.

So what was next? I looked at used ones. Still way out there. Okay, maybe a different class? Buy a used van and MacGyver an RV with the hubby? He’s great at MacGyver-ing stuff! Then a trailer seemed the best way to go. Used. Used trailer…then pop-up (used, of course). Finally, through a series of events and discussions that I won’t bore you with, I made a decision.

Screw it. I’m buying a tent.

And so my adventures begin. Me, my tiny car, any time off of work that I can get, and the open road. (Hubby will wait until we move into the camper phase with heat and air conditioning before he joins me, though I may be able to convince him to join me for a long weekend if the mosquito population is low and the temp is between 68-72.)

I guess success came when I stopped worrying about everything and just focused on what I could do. I could afford a tent. I could take a week off of work. I could ask my dad to teach me how to camp on a trip during that week. I could take time off on my own instead of waiting for hubby’s weird work vacation schedule. I could do something I love that hubby hates. (Whole weird emotional issues of being a people-pleaser here. Hubby often reminds me that he loves me and wants me to be happy and that I should do what I want to do. For some reason, I tend to choose my actions based on what I think people around me want, however not-accurate that may be.)

And so, though I still dream of living on the road and though that dream seems far off, for now, I am doing what I can do.